Attems Collio Goriziano Picolit 2009
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The world-famous Attems wines are grown in Italy's renowned Collio DOC in the northeastern part of the country, bordered by the Alps to the north and the Adriatic Sea to the south. This geography creates a temperate microclimate, and the region's marl and sandstone soils make it perfect for Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc, as well as for the native Ribolla Gialla and Tocai Friulano that have been harvested here since at least as early as the 18th century.
The Attems family winemaking lineage dates back nearly a millennium. In 1106, records show that the Bishop of Salisbury gave them the estate for the purpose of cultivating vineyards and making wine. After 900 years of wine production, Attems aligned with the renowned Marchesi de' Frescobaldi, one of Italy's most revered wine families. Douglas Attems and the Frescobaldi family celebrate a legacy of friendship founded during their years as students at the University of Florence. The partnership understands that a wine's quality and personality reflect the land it comes from, and they have pledged to further enhance the vines at Collio. Together they have committed to innovative vineyard development and to strategic participation in the global market.
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.
Collio is a crescent-shaped sub region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia that hugs right up against the Slovenian border. It is perfectly situated for growing wine grapes, especially of the white variety.
The Julian Alps to Collio’s north allow the influx of cool, nighttime breezes, while the Adriatic Sea to its south regulates the region’s temperatures. The area contains flysch soils,locally known as, ponca, a layered, sedimentary rock that formed millions of years ago as continents collided under the sea. Today the flysch soils that dominate the hills of Collio provide an interesting substrate for vine roots, with measurable mineral variations within small areas. The fractured layers of flysch soils also facilitate drainage and deepening of vine roots.
The region boasts a unique set of indigenous white varieties including Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia and the rare, Picolit. International whites—Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Sauvignon (Blanc) and Chardonnay—have also been in the area for well over 100 years. Today Collio is often associated with crisp, clean, floral and fruity whites. But in recent years, there has been a resurgence in popularity of the ancient Slovenian style of fermenting white grapes on their skins. This process retains additonal colors and phenols, producing a complex finished wine with an orange hue, warranting the term, "orange wines."
Reds are far less common but the indigenous Pignolo makes an age-worthy red, and the international varieties Merlot and Cabernet grow here as well.